69novels Page 2
Page 2
"Someone's here? Let me see what's going on."
Under Asuna Yuuki's incredulous gaze, Asagiri spoke in a relaxed tone with a smile, picking up the chainsaw that had been on the ground and walking step by step toward the door of the ward.
When he was only two or three steps away from the ward door, very close, the blood-covered monster outside seemed to be stimulated by something, its neck suddenly snapped back, and then it slammed heavily against the transparent observation window.
"boom!!!"
The sudden impact made Asuna Yuuki instinctively take two steps back, almost collapsing to the ground with her legs giving way.
"Yo, are you trying to scare me?"
Compared to Yuuki Asuna, who was startled, Asagiri's reaction was unusually calm. Without the slightest hesitation, she quickly moved to the door of the ward, almost face to face, separated only by an observation window, and stared directly at the blood-faced monster standing outside the door.
The next second, he spoke softly in a gentle tone.
"What are you looking at here? Are you looking for your mother's urn?"
Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki paused for a few seconds before realizing what was happening. Having remained silent during the two previous encounters with the monster, she couldn't help but part her lips slightly and utter a syllable expressing her confusion.
"what?"
Is this... an insult?
Asuna Yuuki, a young lady who received an elite education, would certainly not swear, but she's not so naive as to not realize that Asagiri's words were an insult.
The problem is, you can curse all you want, but you use such polite language, using terms like "you" and "your mother."
"No... now is not the time to think about that."
Asuna Yuuki shook her head, forcing herself to forget the abstract insult she had just heard, then looked at Asagiri, who was standing at the door holding a chainsaw, and frowned.
“Mr. Fang Shi, you’re not thinking of opening the door... and fighting that guy outside, are you? This guy should be the ‘caregiver’ mentioned in the prompt. The prompt says that as long as our ward is closed, the other party is absolutely not allowed to enter. In other words, as long as we don’t start, we are safe, at least for now.”
"Would you like to collaborate with me and discuss and analyze the information we currently have?"
Asagiri did not directly reply to Yuuki Asuna's words, nor did she even turn her head. She just kept staring at the hideous, bloody face pasted on the observation window.
"Now it seems I'm a better 'player' than you. Since you're planning to cooperate with me to complete the game, shouldn't you at least show some sincerity by stating your own name first?"
Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"Yes, you're right. Let me introduce myself. My name is Yuuki Asuna."
Asuna Yuuki is well aware of the current situation.
This is definitely not some kind of prank reality show, because given her status, no TV station would dare to do such a thing. Moreover, the apartment building where she lives is located in one of the most bustling areas of Tokyo, the Ginza business district, with extremely tight security measures. Otherwise, her parents would not feel at ease letting her live alone.
In this dangerous situation, cooperating with the "player" in front of you is the wisest choice. After all, judging from the few minutes of contact you had before, although the other party's personality seems a bit different, he is very brave, and judging from the clean and neat movements when he picked up the chainsaw, his physical fitness is obviously also very good.
The most important thing is to work together to escape this place.
"Hello, my name is Fang Shiyangming."
Hearing the other person repeat the name again, Asuna Yuuki frowned slightly, wondering if the other person thought she was an easy girl to fool, or if the other person knew that she had already guessed that "Fusashi Yomei" was a pseudonym, but just didn't care?
You just said something wrong.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"Yes, I was wrong."
Asagiri maintained eye contact with the bloodied face outside the door, standing relaxed with a smile and a nonchalant tone. To an outsider, he would have looked like he was watching monkeys at a zoo.
"It's not 'our ward,' but 'the ward we are in.'"
Yuuki Asuna hesitated upon hearing this.
"Is there... any difference?"
"Of course there is a difference, and it's a very crucial difference."
Asagiri continued to stare intently at the bloodied face outside the observation window as she spoke.
"Since our identity is 'players,' it means that every time we enter a dungeon, it's equivalent to starting a 'game.' So, what's the first thing a 'player' does after entering the 'game'?"
Upon hearing Asagiri's question, Asuna Yuuki didn't pretend to know what she didn't, and honestly shook her head.
"I've never played games, so I don't know."
Instead of being mysterious and keeping her in suspense, Asagiri gave the answer directly.
"It's about acquiring an 'identity'. Whether it's simulation management, side-scrolling platformer, action-adventure, or role-playing game, any game will provide the 'player' with a perspective, which means giving them an 'identity'."
Although Asuna Yuuki had never played video games before, she immediately understood after hearing Asagiri's words.
"So, what you just mentioned, the subtle difference in wording, is actually a hint about our 'player' identity? We don't have our own assigned ward because the roles we play in this instance aren't actually patients in this sanatorium?"
Asagiri nodded and said softly.
"That's most likely the case. Of course, this assumes that the game we're currently working on isn't trash, but rather a valuable work that's worth careful analysis of every word to find clues to complete. Based on this assumption..."
Before he could finish speaking, Asuna Yuuki seemed to have suddenly realized something and exclaimed in understanding.
"The primary responsibility of a 'caregiver' is... to look after the patients in the hospital. We are not patients of this nursing home, so... the 'caregiver' won't actually prevent us from leaving?"
004 The Open Door
After saying those words, Asuna Yuuki herself was somewhat surprised. Looking at the hideous, bloodied face pressed against the observation window, she hesitated.
"So...it doesn't actually want to come in, but rather wants us to open the ward door and leave as soon as possible?"
"Of course, look..."
Asagiri raised her hand, pointed to the hideous, bloodied face, and said with a smile.
"Look how anxious this guy is! They're actually here to rescue us from Mars, and..."
At this point, Asagiri paused slightly before continuing.
"Judging from its appearance... it's definitely not a living person. Based on the word 'caregiver' in the clue, I speculate that it's probably the ghost, evil spirit, or resentful spirit left behind by a caregiver in this sanatorium who died after encountering some event. Its anxious behavior in trying to persuade us to leave confirms your previous guess. One hour... no, now there are only fifty minutes left. In fifty minutes, something strange will happen in this sanatorium, and at that time, no one will be able to leave here."
"Ghost, ghost... a ghost?"
Asuna Yuuki's face turned pale, and even her voice began to tremble.
"Do ghosts really exist...?"
"Wow, how fresh!"
Asagiri said nonchalantly, "Even things like suddenly appearing in another location can happen. It's not surprising that ghosts and evil spirits exist, is it? Besides, this might not even be the world we originally lived in."
Immediately afterward, before Yuuki Asuna could speak, Asagiri suddenly changed the subject.
"However, no matter how much analysis or speculation we make, there is only one way to verify whether our conjecture is correct: open the door to the ward and walk out. If our conjecture is wrong, we will probably be attacked by the guy outside the moment we open the door. So the question is, who will open that door, you or me?"
Upon hearing this question, Asuna Yuuki glanced once more at the狰狞血脸 (zhengning xuè xuè liǎn, meaning ferocious and bloody face) outside the observation window, and fear gripped her heart.
That's right.
No matter how many inferences are made or how much information is used to support them, in the end, who can guarantee that the results they have deduced are correct?
There is only one way to verify this, and if the prediction is wrong, the consequences are self-evident.
If you quickly close the ward door again as soon as you see the "caregiver" outside behaving aggressively, the person left inside might still have a chance to survive.
To be honest, Asuna Yuuki was terrified. She didn't want to face that hideous, blood-faced monster, and she didn't want to die. She desperately wanted the other person to open the door and verify whether their guesses were correct.
But.......
Why?
During the analysis, the mysterious person who called himself "Fang Shiyangming" took the lead. She just followed the other party's line of thought and gave a conjecture that any normal person could think of. Now she asked the other party to risk his life to open that door and face that terrifying monster.
Despite her fear and apprehension, Asuna Yuuki did not feel that, as a "player," she had the right to demand that another "player" take all the risks for her.
"me..."
Asuna Yuuki took a deep breath, her hands involuntarily clenching.
“I’ll open the door. If I get attacked, I’ll do everything I can to knock that guy outside away. You can use that opportunity to close the door again.”
Upon hearing this, Asagiri didn't stand on ceremony and immediately made way for the door to the ward, even gesturing for him to enter.
"Oh, that's wonderful. I deeply admire Ms. Yuuki Asuna's magnanimity. I am a gentleman, so please, ladies first."
Seeing his actions and hearing his words, Asuna Yuuki was at a loss for words.
Opening the ward door was my decision, that was correct, the problem is...
That's way too impolite of you!
"You're such a weirdo..."
As Asuna Yuuki walked towards the door of the ward, she said helplessly.
When she arrived at the ward door, she looked at the hideous, bloody face outside the observation window. Due to excessive tension and fear, she felt her limbs begin to go numb, and her mind went almost blank.
In the deathly silence, Asuna Yuuki slowly grasped the rusty doorknob with her trembling right hand.
Just as she finally mustered her courage and began to turn the doorknob, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by Asagiri beside her.
"Okay, let's stop here."
"what?"
Before Asuna Yuuki could react, Asagiri had already walked to the door, carrying a chainsaw in one hand and gripping the doorknob with the other. Without the slightest hesitation, she opened the door and even laughed in a relaxed and carefree tone.
"The Chainsaw Man is here!"
"Clap."
The door was pulled open by Asagiri, and the scene that came into view made Yuuki Asuna feel as if all the blood in her body had frozen.
Only then did she finally see the true face of the hideous, blood-faced monster.
The other person was wearing tattered, light blue work clothes stained with blood and dirt, and was also wearing something that looked like a work badge. Most importantly, the blood-faced monster was in an extremely strange posture. Its body was not upright, but like an elderly hunchback, it was bending over and bringing its face close to what was originally the observation window of the ward.
Seeing Asagiri open the door, the blood-faced monster slowly straightened up. Its head was almost touching the ceiling of the corridor. Yuuki Asuna roughly estimated that the monster was at least three meters tall.
Faced with this overwhelming sense of oppression, Asuna Yuuki's breath caught in her throat for a moment.
But the oppressive atmosphere was instantly shattered in the next second.
Excuse me, could you please move aside?
Asagiri's tone remained as relaxed as ever, as if she felt no fear whatsoever, even when facing a blood-faced monster nearly three meters tall.
To Asuna Yuuki's surprise, after the other party said those words, the ridiculously tall, blood-faced monster actually took a step back and cleared the way to the doorway.
"What are you still spacing out for?"
Asagiri walked straight out of the ward, then turned around and looked at Yuuki Asuna, who was still standing in the ward, and urged her.
"Time is precious, and it might affect the evaluation and rewards given after clearing the level, so let's hurry up and go."
005 A sudden increase in favorability
Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki cautiously prepared to leave the ward.
She turned her entire body to the side, her back pressed against the door frame, her eyes fixed on the blood-faced monster standing there, afraid that if she wasn't careful, it would suddenly make some aggressive move.
The "caregiver" simply stood there quietly from beginning to end, which relieved Asuna Yuuki.
It seems the inference was correct: the "caregiver" was not hostile to the "player" and would not prevent the "player" from leaving the sanatorium. On the contrary, the caregiver would urge the "player" to leave through their actions. It's just that the caregiver's appearance was too terrifying, and the blood mist prompt contained vague expressions such as "safe zone" and "not allowed to enter," which could easily lead people to misunderstand and assume that the "caregiver" was an obstacle to clearing this dungeon.
After finally calming down, Asuna Yuuki looked at Asagiri standing there, pursed her lips, and spoke with a somewhat complicated expression.
"Didn't we agree... I'd open the door...?"
"Don't misunderstand."
Before Yuuki Asuna could finish speaking, Asagiri interrupted her.
“I didn’t have any childish thoughts like wanting to risk my life for a girl I just met to be a hero or show off, or that I couldn’t bear to see you die in front of me. I’m neither gentle nor kind, and I’m not the kind of simp who can’t stand seeing a beautiful girl and loses his ability to think. I opened the door simply to prevent you from doing anything rash in extreme fear that might anger the ‘caregiver’ who is not originally an enemy. And I believe in my reasoning, that’s all.”
Asuna Yuuki nodded at first, but then couldn't help asking with a question.
"Then why didn't you just open the ward door from the beginning? Why did you have to wait until I was about to open it before stopping me?"
"Of course, it's to test you."
Asagiri explained calmly, "In that situation, you were able to offer to open the ward door and you actually intended to do so, which proves that you are not such a shameless girl who thinks others should do things for her. It also proves that you have the courage to face danger. In addition, you did not make up a fake name when you introduced yourself. You have passed my test."
Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki frowned slightly, puzzled.